Hutchins mayor, other city officials indicted after public corruption investigation

Hutchins’ mayor and nine other current and former city employees face criminal charges after a 16-month public corruption investigation, police said Monday.

A Dallas County grand jury indicted Mayor Artis Johnson last week on charges of criminal conspiracy and abuse of official capacity.

Hutchins’ police chief, Frank McElligott, said the investigation centered on the theft of city-owned scrap, which was sold to recyclers.

Johnson and his attorney, state Sen. Royce West, could not be reached for comment. But West told WFAA-TV (Channel 8) that his client was innocent.

“I’m asking people to withhold judgment ... until he’s had his day in court,” he said.

The city’s former public works director, Ronnie O’Brien, and seven other former public works employees face charges of engaging in organized criminal activity in connection with the theft and sale of city-owned scrap.

McElligott said the district attorney’s Office of Public Integrity began investigating in December 2012 after a lead developed during a separate investigation into a court clerk who was suspected of stealing revenue from city fines.

A spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney’s office could not be reached for comment on the investigation.

McElligott said public works employees took more than $25,000 in scrap, such as pipes and meters, and sold it to recyclers.

One of the public works employees went to pick up payment from a recycler, who, seeing the employee dressed in a city uniform and driving a city truck, made a check out to “city of Hutchins,” McElligott said.

The employee took the check to the mayor, who had the money deposited into the general fund, from which a check was issued to O’Brien, the chief said.

O’Brien, who retired in October after eight years with the city, said the investigation “is what it is, and obviously, the mayor is guilty.”

He declined to comment further.

City Secretary Janis Daniels, who has been accused of using city credit cards for personal use, was indicted on a charge of theft of less than $1,500. The indictment said she unlawfully acquired “various food items.”

It was unclear whether the charge against Daniels was related to the allegations against other city employees, and she could not be reached for comment Monday.

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